Jewish Like Beckham?

Well, a disputed fraction, anyway.  According to the Jewish News Weekly of Northern California:

“I’ve always been honored when people have made me feel special all around the world. I get that from the gay community, from the black community and the Jewish community because I’m half Jewish. If I can have that effect in America, then great.” That’s from English soccer star David Beckham, who joined the L.A. Galaxy soccer team early in July. Beckham has one Jewish grandparent, but if he wants to call himself “half Jewish,” fine with me.

A little googling reveals that Beckham and his wife were recently inspired by his Jewish heritage to get matching Shir HaShirim (Song of Songs) Ani l'dodi (I am my beloved's and my beloved is mine) tattoos.  From Hebrew tattoos:

Hebrewtattoo.net received the order to do the tattoo design and expedited it out by email. David contacted his new tattoo artist and made arrangements to fly him and his equipment to Singapore to tattoo him in his and Victoria's hotel rooms... The new tattoo artist is adamant that he remain anonymous because that is the arrangement that he agreed to with David and Victoria in return for having them as return customers.

No doubt we will receive inquiries about the verse so here is some more info. King Shlomo wrote the Song of Songs as an allegory of the relationship between the Creator and the nation of Israel, in terms of the love between a man and a woman. It is recited on Pesach (Passover) the Holiday that celebrates the liberation of the Jewish People from their slavery in Egypt and their oddesy to claim their birthright, the land of Israel.

According to Jewish Biblical Sage RASHI, the Megilah (Scroll) is the mashal (allegory) of a young and beautiful woman who becomes engaged to and then marries a king. But very soon after the marriage, she is unfaithful to him, causing him to send her away, into the status of “living widowhood,” meaning she is “as if” a widow, although her husband is still alive. But his love for her remains strong, and he watches over her at all times, from behind the scenes, to protect her. And when she resolves to return to him, and be faithful to him, he will take her back, with a love that is fully restored.

More.

Comments

[soccerdad]

Interesting, but according to the Torah a tatoo is prohibited.

[Gail]

Yes, I know. It is a desecration of the body. I have pierced ears, so I guess I am a violator.

I liked a couple of things on the Jewish Tattoo site nevertheless - their explanation of Shir HaShirim, above, and also the way they stick up for Israel here.

[soccerdad]

Pierced ears are not a problem. It is specifically permanently writing on the skin that is prohibited. (My wife and 2 of my daughters have pierced ears.)

[Gail]

Aha, that will teach me to use an unauthorized internet source. I was curious, and quickly looked it up earlier.

The source I found said this:

The law that makes tattoos taboo for Jews is Leviticus 19:28, which states: "You shall not make gashes in your flesh for the dead, or incise any marks on yourselves: I am the Lord." (This is also why Orthadox Jews do not allow piercings.) Judaism has always seen our bodies as a gift from God and believes that you should use your body as a house for your soul, keeping it in as pristine a condition as possible.

But I see they misquoted/mistranslated Leviticus 19:28, which, according to the JPS version of the Tanakh says:

Ye shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor imprint any marks upon you: I am the LORD.

[soccerdad]

I wouldn't necessarily call it a mistranslation. A lot of the words in the Torah are unique or don't have an exact translation. So the translators do the best that they can.